Imagine for a moment that there is a waitress in a restaurant. She approaches a customer and takes his order. The customer asks for a hamburger. After a few minutes, the waitress returns to the customer and hands him a slice of pizza. The customer is furious. “I asked for a hamburger and you brought me pizza.” The waitress smiles, “I don’t like hamburgers.”Now, obviously, the story is ridiculous. No waitress in the history of the world would act like this. Yet in essay writing, this happens quite a bit. The essay writer writes but does not answer the question. So, in order to avoid an embarrassing situation, let’s learn how to write the essay we are asked to write.

A Lesson from the World History waitress, “Write the essay that you are asked to write.”So, let’s give it a try!

Here is a Thematic Essay Question:Theme: Change

Throughout history, the actions of leaders have changed the societies in which they lived.Read the theme carefully. What is this essay about? Restate the theme in your own words:

Relax. Don’t panic. Don’t even think about the answer. Just make sure you know what you are being asked to write about.

How many leaders does the customer want? What do you have to write about for each leader?

How many leaders do you have to write about?

_____________________________________________________________________

What do you have to do for each leader: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Now, look at the suggestions or think of examples of belief systems:

Hammurabi

Confucius

Muhammad

Mansa Musa

Martin Luther

Queen Isabella

John Locke

Louis XIV

Peter the Great

Write a quick list of what you know about at least two of these leaders:

Leader #1: ______________________________

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__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

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Leader #2: ______________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

Leader #3: ______________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

See. You do know something about the theme and the task. You’re going to be just fine. So, now, let’s organize our ideas to help us write this essay. Let’s give the customer what he ordered.

Now, the key to giving the customer what he ordered is to get organized. So, since you don’t have an order book, you’ll have to make the box, the “get organized” box, or the outline. I’ll show you what I mean:

Don’t forget: This is the hamburger you were asked to serve!But wait, you are not quite done. Yes, you had to select two leaders but remember you also had to address three questions for each leader. So, you must divide each column into three parts. I’ll show you what I mean.

The Final Box:First Leader: Second Leader:

________________________ _________________________

One Situation Attempted to Change:

One Situation Attempted to Change:

One Action to Change Situation:

One Action to Change Situation:

Impact on Society:

Impact on Society:

Oh, I see. You didn’t know what “Situation” was. And you weren’t sure what “Impact” was either. Don’t worry. I’ll help you. In this essay, a “Situation” is something that the leader disagrees with, something that the leader wants to change. An “Impact” is an effect or outcome that the leader creates as a result of his actions. And it is best to think of “Impact” as changes or Effects. So, in this essay, the writer is explaining a situation that a leader did not agree with and the actions the leader took to change the situation as well as the effects or results or outcomes of the leader’s actions.

Enough talking, let’s get started making this hamburger.

Complete the chart:First Leader: Second Leader:

One Situation Attempted to Change:

One Situation Attempted to Change:

One Action to Change Situation:

One Action to Change Situation:

Impact on Society:

Impact on Society:

Finally, we know what we need to do. Oh, and don’t forget this essay must have at least five paragraphs. It must have an introduction paragraph, a body paragraph on the situation, a body paragraph on the action, a body paragraph on the impact, and a conclusion.

And don’t let the introduction frighten you. An introduction doesn’t answer the question. It just introduces the essay’s theme and what you are going to write about. It’s kind of like a map to the essay. It helps the reader understand what he will be reading about. Let’s practice. Write an introduction paragraph for this essay. Let the reader know what will be addressed in the essay and why this theme is important. Avoid referring to yourself or the reader. Stick to the topic. Leaders are important. Leaders affect the societies in which they live. Now, you try:

The introduction is like the bun or the bread of the burger. It’s not the meat. It doesn’t answer the question but it’s kind of like a container for the facts. It’s something for the reader to hold on to.

Since you have already created a chart or an outline, the body paragraphs are easy. But don’t forget to explain your ideas. Don’t just list the information in your chart. That would be very boring. By explaining your facts, you are telling a story and stories are always more interesting than lists. A waitress who engages the customer in conversation and is pleasant always gets a bigger tip!

The burger is almost ready. You just need a conclusion or another bun to hold the facts. Remember that a conclusion is like an introduction. It summarizes the essay’s theme. However, unlike an introduction, a conclusion can be a bit more exciting. Maybe you have an opinion about the topic that would be appropriate to share or maybe you want to be a bit dramatic. The conclusion also contains the last words of the essay. So, it is important to make it clear to the reader what was the most important information in the essay.